Slow learner

Apart from the fact that I am what is sometimes called a 'lifelong learner', someone who continues to engage with new ideas, I'm also something of a 'slow learner'.

For instance, it has only been in recent months that I've started to understand spin, not the political kind, but that of the golf ball. The old Scots understood this and roughed up their golf ball so that it would not spin wildly and go all over the place. I think golf was hard enough then anyway (play it as it lies, laddie).

Consequently, I've modified the way I drive the ball, with a more upward swing path and strike, reducing backspin and creating more run, which combined with greater carry because of the swing path, results in longer tee shots - up to thirty yards. Not everyone needs that distance of course. Many pros and good amateurs generate plenty of clubhead speed, carry and run with high spin rates because they want the control they retain by hitting slightly down on their tee ball. I have been challenged in keeping directional control with my new ball flight, so it is a work in progress.

But something else I should have known or at least remembered relates to iron play. It is a principle that probably applies to all clubs, but is particularly relevant to irons - don't try to hit the ball too hard.

By 'too hard' I mean with a force that takes you out of rhythm. Irons are about control, direction and distance, not maximum carry or length. This doesn't mean lack of commitment, it just means taking the appropriate club for a particular distance. If we are straining to hit a particular club a certain distance into a green, for example, the chances are high that we will mishit the shot, fat, thin or wide. Loss of control, stokes wasted, frustration is the result.

However, there is also a danger in taking the extra (stronger) club, possibly even a greater danger. Not committing to an iron shot brings in the dreaded 'deceleration', and this can be even more destructive than over-hitting. No good shot was ever hit when a player eased up on a shot - decelerated - whether consciously or unconsciously.

The challenge is to find a happy medium between overhitting and decelerating - a comfortable level of commitment, which is rhythmic and controlled. Of course, if it was easy we'd all hit perfect shots. But we don't, so we have to work on it.

That's the challenge for a slow learner like me - keep working on the basics of good tee shots and iron play. Some would say slow and steady wins the race. We'll see.